Mercyhurst head coach Mike Sisti was thrilled to clinch the title, which earns the Lakers the chance to host the CHA tournament, which begins Feb. 28.

"This year's title is just as good as any," said Sisti, whose Lakers sat in fourth place in the CHA standings at one point this season. "The girls bounced back from some tough games early in the season. I'm proud of them."

On Sunday, the Lakers were forced to overcome a strong goaltending performance by Penn State's Nicole Paniccia, who made 35 of her 48 saves during the first two periods.

The Nittany Lions (4-25-3, 1-16-1) opened the scoring early in the second period on Hannah Hoenshell's fifth goal of the season. Mercyhurst finally solved Paniccia just under four minutes later, when Paige Horton buried her second goal of the season from Christine Bestland and Emily Janiga.

Janiga helped the Lakers pull away in the third, recording the second of her three assists on Molly Byrne's power-play goal to make the score 2-1.

Janiga then picked up another assist less than 4 minutes later when Jenna Dingledein netted her 13th to give the Lakers a two-goal lead.

Mercyhurst will conclude its regular season with a pair of home games against Lindenwood this weekend.